Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center

Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/22/2012 - 5:10pm

About

The Graduate College of Psychology and Humanistic Studies is the world’s premier center for humanistic scholarship and research. Originally founded as the Humanistic Psychology Institute in 1971 through the leadership of Eleanor Criswell, and known for more than three decades as Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, the College of Psychology and Humanistic Studies has been the world’s leading educational institution dedicated to humanistic scholarship for nearly 40 years. It has been the intellectual home for generations of scholars who sought to make a difference in the world through practice, and for practitioners who sought to take their work to the next level through graduate education.

Its creation was inspired by the legendary meeting at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, in 1964 when the humanistic psychology movement was articulated as an alternative to mainstream psychology. The humanistic psychologists who participated in that conference wanted to provide a place where psychologists as well as other professionals could come to learn more. Leading figures at the conference, including Rollo May, James Bugental, and Clark Moustakas, also served as faculty in the early years.

This College we fondly call PHS is the holder of the legacy that sources the mission and values of Saybrook University and all its Colleges. Its faculty can trace their roots directly to the thought leaders who created the humanistic tradition – in humanistic psychology, in human science, in mind-body medicine, and in organizational systems and leadership. Our faculty are first generation offspring of these titans of the humanistic tradition who in turn have shaped the second and third generations of this tradition’s leaders. These three generations of humanistic scholars are now educating the next generation of humanistic scholars and practitioners who are needed now, more than ever before, to effect a transformation in the values that drive our society and culture.

PHS remains committed to the principles of the humanistic tradition and firm in the belief that these principles are vital and relevant for graduate education that seeks to inspire transformative change in our world. Our graduates reside in more than 16 nations.